Fox News reports that the police officer who has been convicted of killing George Floyd has now appealed his conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Derek Chauvin is the former Minnesota police officer who, in May 2020, infamously knelt on Floyd's neck for about 10 minutes, while Floyd claimed that he was not to be able to breathe. This ultimately led to Floyd's death.
Chauvin was subsequently tried and convicted by a jury of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. He was then sentenced, in June 2021, to 22.5 years of imprisonment.
Since then, Chauvin has been attempting to get his conviction overturned.
Recently, Chauvin appealed his case to the Minnesota Supreme Court. But, the court, on Tuesday, refused to hear the appeal.
Afterward, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison claimed that the refusal of the state Supreme Court to hear the appeal "means that the Court of Appeals was correct in finding that his trial was properly conducted and he was properly convicted under the law."
"This development definitively holds Chauvin accountable and closes this chapter of the murder of George Floyd," Ellison added.
Chauvin has now appealed his conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Chauvin is arguing, essentially, that he was unable to get a fair trial due to the pretrial publicity of his case, which was so widespread that he could not get an impartial jury - particularly not in Minneapolis, where the trial was held.
Chauvin's attorney, William Morhman, said:
More concerning are the riots which occurred after George Floyd’s death (and) led the jurors to all express concerns for their safety in the event they acquitted Mr. Chauvin — safety concerns which were fully evidenced by surrounding the courthouse in barbed wire and National Guard troops during the trial and deploying the National Guard throughout Minneapolis prior to jury deliberations.
Morhman would seem to have a point here.
The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court have the discretion to decide whether or not it will hear Chauvin's appeal. But, chances are that the justices will not.
"Chauvin's appeal faces slim chances of being heard at [the U.S. Supreme Court], which receives thousands of case requests each year but only hears around 150," Fox News reports.
It is unclear, at the time of this writing, when it is that the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether or not to hear Chauvin's appeal. The Supreme Court is currently in recess.
